North Korea has been holding Merrill Newman since early October without word until today, when they announced he had been arrested.
I was afraid upon hearing this story and knowing he was a Korean War Vet, that it stemmed from their disturbance over that.
It’s pretty clear either that Mr. Newman didn’t write it, or it was written under duress. The video of him, released by North Korea, reading the “apology letter” pretty much makes that clear.
I’m having historical flashbacks to the USS Pueblo, and doubtless Mr. Newman is familiar with that as well.
Via Buzzfeed:
North Korea said on Saturday it had arrested American veteran Merrill Newman for “hostile acts” against the state and accused him of being “a criminal” involved in the killing of civilians during the Korean War in the 1950s.
North Korea published the following apology letter on Saturday, allegedly written by the veteran. It is not known if the apology was coerced or written by him.
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The following is an apology U.S. citizen Merrill Newman presented to a relevant institution after his detention in the DPRK:I am Merrill Newman living in California, USA.
During the Korean War, I have been guilty of a long list of indelible crimes against DPRK government and Korean people as advisor of the Kuwol Unit of the UN Korea 6th Partisan Regiment part of the Intelligence Bureau of the Far East Command.
As I gave 300 people with barbarity gone to the South who had ill feelings toward the DPRK from Chodo military education and guerilla training they later did attack against the DPRK although the armistice was signed.
I also gave 200 soldiers under my command in Mt. Kuwol the task to harass the rear base such as collecting information on the movement and the arm equipment in KPA, attacking and destruction on the communication system, the rice storage, railroad and munitions train by dispatching the several elements to Hwanghae Province Area.
Here’s a video to get to know Mr. Newman. Please help and pray for his safe return.
Update:
Was the Merill Newman being held captive mistaken for this Merill Newman?
Via ABC:
But another North Korean veteran named Merrill H. Newman, age 84, was, until recently, the better-known Merrill Newman. He received a Silver Star for his time in the Korean War.
“The thought entered my head,” said Merrill H. Newman, reached at his home in Beaverton, Ore. “The name is the same and there’s always that possibility, but I have no way of knowing.”
“The thing that has been kicked around by media people, not me, is that I received a Silver Star for 60 years ago in Korea and I have the same name, so the question has come up, could it be that in the process of maybe Googling, like anybody can, and finding that perhaps they thought there was a connection there? I don’t know. I have no way of knowing,” he said.
Merrill E. Newman, the one being detained in North Korea, served in the infantry during the war, but was not as decorated as Merrill H. Newman.
In 1952, Merrill H. Newman was serving in the Marine Corps and led a raid against the Chinese for which he was awarded the Silver Star. He demurred from recounting the details of the raid